Technology Standards in Social Work Practice

June 28, 2017

The new Technology Standards in Social Work Practice are now available for use by the social work community. They were developed by four organizations which included the National Association of Social Workers, Association of Social Work Boards, Council on Social Work Education, and the Clinical Social Work Association. With representatives from each association, the Task Force for Technology Standards in Social Work Practice was formed and conducted an extensive literature review in technology, reviewed technology standards developed by multiple professions, and social work statutes and licensing regulations in various jurisdictions. Multiple drafts of the standards were prepared and discussed over a course of two years with the primary goal of developing uniform, comprehensive technology standards across the four major social work organizations.

During the summer of 2016, there was a 30 day public comment period and a large volume of comments were received. As a result, a sub-task force advisory group was established to review the draft standards and provide comments.

The standards were approved by the Board of Directors of the four major organizations. There are a total of 55 standards integrated into four sections of the technology standards which include:

Provision of Information to the Public

Designing and Delivering of Services

Gathering, Managing, and Storing Information

Social Work Education and Supervision

Also included are a glossary of technology terms and a list of resources. The standards are available for review at the following link: